I’ve always been interested in the twelve apostles. I would love to hear from Jesus why he choose just twelve and why each of them individually. While reading the story of Jesus selecting his disciples (Mark 3:13-18), I found myself thinking about three of the disciples: James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus (or Judas son of James), and Simon the Zealot.

The most extraordinary thing about these three is that we know almost nothing about them. They are practically only there in name. Thaddaeus asked Jesus one question and the other guys seem to have only been present in the gospels. When the early Christian church started, there seems to be no reference to their roles or significant things that they did. These three guys seem to be nothing special at all.

However, they were called. Like Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:12, “he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.” The Lord considered these guys faithful and knew that they would follow him and obey him.

I often find myself looking for God to use me in big ways, the sort of things that people will see and know it was God. In doing such, I lose focus on simply following Jesus and obeying him in the little, average ways. That needs to be my focus: following and obeying Jesus. Not looking for big ways and things that I can do for him, but simply living a daily life in obedience.

Maybe nothing will ever be written about me, but I’ll know that I heard from the Lord and faithfully followed after him. And that’s enough for me.